Coming off of an ugly 146-115 blowout loss to the lowly Chicago Bulls on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka may have shifted his mindset from the team’s goal of winning a title this season to his plans for this coming summer.
The Lakers’ generational duo of Luka Dončić and LeBron James struggled mightily to initiate the team’s offense against Chicago, evidenced by a combined 12 turnovers and plus-minus figure of -36.
With the conclusion of the 2024-25 season rapidly approaching, Pelinka might figure that this current iteration of the Lakers are not in a position to raise the Larry O’Brien trophy, especially after their latest horrid performance.
In an effort to put the storied franchise in a position to hang its 18th championship banner in 2026, it’s plausible to believe that Pelinka could seriously entertain the idea of bringing in two pieces that would become integral to a future title-winning core in the form of the Portland Trail Blazers’ Jerami Grant and Robert Williams.
If Pelinka were to contact Portland with the intention of landing the star duo, he could possibly get a deal across the finish line by offering the contracts of Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent along with first-round draft capital.
As prospective additions to a Lakers team that will have lofty expectations as long as Dončić and James are on the same squad, both Grant and Williams could help to elevate the group by playing specific roles.
At 31 years old, Grant is a well-traveled, 6-foot-7 scoring wing that averaged a career-high 21.0 points while shooting 40.2% from the three-point line last season.
Grant’s scoring average has dropped severely to a 14.4-point mark, but that could be explained by a lack of shot attempts and overall involvement in Portland’s offense, as the re-building franchise continues to focus on their young talent.
The same goes for Williams, who helped the Boston Celtics reach the 2022 NBA Finals as an intimidating shot-blocker and athletic lob-finisher while placing seventh in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2021-22.
Now in his seventh NBA season at age 27, Williams has contributed 5.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in only 20 appearances in 2024-25.
Seeing as though Williams has served as a defensive anchor for a group that made it to the league’s biggest stage, adding both he and Grant as a proven three-and-D wing could be one of Pelinka’s main objectives as summertime approaches.
Though injury concerns and overall inconsistency issues for both players could get in the way of a deal being completed, the Lakers’ front office could likely talk themselves into opening up a dialogue with Portland.
